Richard Groom - Director

Richard is a PrincipleFocus Director and manages training and consultancy for farming clients across New South Wales. Richard began his career as a jackaroo in western NSW, after studying Agricultural Economics at the University of New England.  He then managed his family’s farm at Guyra in the New England Tablelands for approximately 15 years. 

Nikki Tomasoni

Nikki is the manager for StrategicFocus nationally and has been working for PrincipleFocus since 2003. Nikki joined PrincipleFocus after working for 6 years in the field of Environment Education. She completed Masters in Sustainable Agriculture in 2002 and also has a Degree in Applied Science (Systems Agriculture).  When not working for PrincipleFocus Nikki pursues her interest in agriculture further by growing organic garlic commercially.

Janne Hurst

Janne is responsible for the co-ordination of The Business of Farming course nationally, and office administration in Coffs Harbour.   Janne is experienced in all aspects of office administration and prior to joining PrincipleFocus worked in a number of industries including accounting, human resources, local government and hospitality.

Sean Martyn - Managing Director

Sean’s role as Managing Director of PrincipleFocus is in strategic planning and risk management however he maintains a close association with clients and personally coaches and mentors all our senior staff. This coaching model forms the basis of the relationship all our people have with their own clients.

Lachlan Campbell

Lachlan lives on a beef and sheep property near Wellington with his wife Teena and two young daughters.  The property is run in partnership with his brother Dugald and his wife, Simone and has been fully developed for cell grazing. 

Lachlan holds a Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Economics and first became involved with PrincipleFocus after attending a course in 2000.  Over the past 7 years, Lachlan has applied the learnings from PrincipleFocus to his own business and has now fully blueprinted his farming operation.   The efficient systems now in place gives Lachlan time to pursue his career as a PrincipleFocus Associate.  As an Associate, Lachlan facilitates at StrategicFocus meetings, provides one:one consultancy to clients (budgeting, grazing charts, development planning, family succession planning) and also acts as a Client Manager to StrategicFocus Plus clients.  Click here for more info.

Ann Coltish 

Ann is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Deakin University, VIC.

Ann has worked in Business Advisory and Taxation Services for almost 20 years, working with Andrew Dunbabin directly for 16 of those years.  Ann was a senior manager in a major accounting firm before joining PrincipleFocus at its inception in July 2006.   She is the most senior of the accountants based in the Geelong office working with clients to minimise their taxation obligations and to assist clients in following through with their financial strategies.

Ann lives in Ocean Grove on the Bellarine Peninsula with her husband Peter and two children Steve and Ali.  Ann’s passion outside of work is her beloved Saints in the AFL.

Jim Cuming 

Jim is the Senior Management Consultant and Branch Manager for the Geelong office.  He is responsible for the delivery of integrated professional service packages and strategic management advice to Victorian clients.  Jim also manages the Geelong team in achieving service delivery and performance targets.

Jim has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree from Melbourne University and four years experience working for the Victorian Farmers Federation where he was responsible for developing and delivering extension programs to the wool & livestock industries. He then spent 6 years managing a large family property near Glenthompson, Western Victoria before moving to Geelong to take on a consulting role with PrincipleFocus. 

Some of Jim's acheivements in the last five years include:
- Negotiated the transition from the paddocks to the office
- Helped build a brand new business for PrincipleFocus in Geelong that is a recognised service centre today
- Achieved major productivity improvements at the family property
- Won a scholarship to attend the Marcus Oldham Rural Leadership course in 2006.

Amanda Cunliffe

Amanda has been with PrincipleFocus since August 2007 as Administration Clerk.  Her key roles include primary support to the Executive Assistant and other staff, data entry, filing, distribution of incoming/outgoing correspondence, reception and clerical duties.

Amanda lives in Geelong with her husband and three children.  They are working towards their goal of one day owning a small property of their own.

Trish Grant

Simone Heidrich

Simone completed a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) and Bachelor of Management (Marketing & HRM) in 2007 at the University of Ballarat.  Whilst at university Simone undertook studies in Sweden and also enjoyed travelling through Europe and Scandinavia.

Coming from a small town in a rural area where her parents own a small business, Simone is familiar with the issues many of our clients endure.  She also worked at GrainCorp over the harvest period for 4 years, which introduced her to her interest in agricultural business.

She is about to undertake further study to complete her professional qualification as a chartered accountant and is a loaned executive to United Way for the 2008 year.

Simone is also a keen rower and enjoys living near the coast!

Kate Kitson

Kate has a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) and a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) from Deakin University, and is currently completing her Graduate Diploma of Chartered Accounting through the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.

Kate has worked in the Business and Tax services area for 5 years and has also worked as a financial accountant in a large wholesale fresh food business.  Kate worked for a large accounting practice prior to joining PrincipleFocus and has been one of “our family” for almost two years. 

At PrincipleFocus, Kate specialises in the primary production area and with small businesses and is dedicated to assisting her client’s in minimising their taxation obligations.  She also works closely with client’s to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of their accounting software.

The close relationship the firm has with its clients and having a real understanding of their businesses is what motivates Kate in her work.

Outside work, her interests include horse riding, netball, running and managing a small farm with her husband Andrew.

Brendan Madden

Profile to come.

Sharon McFarlane

Sharon worked in a public practice accounting firm for 17 years prior to joining PrincipleFocus in July 2006.    Sharon is Office Manager of the PrincipleFocus Geelong office.

Sharon is responsible for the writing and implementation of office policies and procedures, administration staff, OH&S and the overall smooth running of the Geelong office.

Sharon is married with two beautiful little boys.  Sharon completes her role from Monday to Thursday, allowing her time to fulfil her family commitments.

Tracey Maconachie

Tracey Maconachie is pleased to have joined the team at PrincipleFocus in April 2008 as an accountant in the Geelong Office. She specialises in the area of accounting and tax for self managed superannuation funds.

Tracey has over 18 years of experience in the accounting profession. In that time she has worked at two local public accounting firms, working primarily in business and taxation services. She has a Bachelor of Commerce from Deakin University and is a qualified CPA.

Tracey is community minded, currently acting as the treasurer of “Volunteering Geelong” and helps out at the children’s school wherever possible. She lives in Grovedale, is married to Greg and has two young children, Cameron and Sophie, with whom she loves to spend time with. She is a very devoted Cats fan who greatly enjoyed attending the 2007 Grand Final.

Aaron McDonald

Aaron graduated from Deakin University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accounting, Finance and Financial Planning.

Aaron grew up on the family farm south of Horsham.  He worked on the farm during holidays and while growing up and then moved to Geelong to commence university.

He worked for Pitcher Partners in the Management Accounting Division during whole of 2007 and then moved back to Geelong to PrincipleFocus due to their primary production connections.

Aaron's hobbies include playing tennis, exercising, motorbike riding and playing footy for East Geelong.

Peter Norrish

Peter holds a Diploma in Farm Management from Marcus Oldham, a Bachelor of Commerce from Deakin University, VIC, and a CPA.

Peter is a qualified accountant who has worked in Business Advisory and Taxation Services for  18 years, working with Andrew Dunbabin directly for 10 of those years.  Before becoming an accountant, Peter spent 8 years working on cropping and grazing properties in WA. He spent eighteen months on a rural exchange in Canada and Denmark working on dairy and cropping properties, prior to commencing his studies at Marcus Oldham.

Over the last five years, Peter has specialised in self managed superannuation to complement his practical experience in the primary production sector.  He still retains a strong taxation client base whilst also acting as the senior superannuation consultant in the office.

Peter lives in Geelong with his wife Cath and daughter Emma, supporting the West Coast Eagles in the AFL and being actively involved in cycling activities.  Peter’s community mindedness has seen him act as a loaned executive to United Way and has acted as treasurer of the Barwon Bereavement Services for 10 years.

James Nott

James works as an accountant and taxation adviser with PrincipleFocus.  He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne, is a chartered accountant, and a member of the Taxation Institute of Australia.  He has worked in Melbourne, in Geelong, where he was a partner in a leading accounting firm for over 20 years, and overseas, and looks to practically attend to client taxation requirements.  When the GST was introduced he wrote a series of booklets on the subject.  He also contributed a fortnightly column in the Geelong Advertiser for twelve years.

Clinton Peake

Clinton has completed a Bachelor of Commerce (Deakin University, VIC) majoring in Accounting and Management before undertaking and completing the chartered accountants qualification through the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia. 

Clinton worked in a public practice accounting firm for 9 years before joining PrincipleFocus.  Clinton’s role has been primarily in taxation, but has also evolved into elements of succession and estate planning.  Clinton shares the desire of most clients to protect their assets whilst minimising taxation obligations where possible.  As part of the dynamic accounting team, Clinton enjoys the vibrancy of PrincipleFocus and the challenges of finding equitable solutions for clients in all financial situations.

His interests outside work are sports, particularly playing cricket in the summer and spending quality time with his young family.

Nicole Porte

Nicole is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Business Degree from Ballarat University.

Nicole worked in audit services for six years, spent a year on various contracting assignments and then transferred to business advisory and taxation services where she worked for a further ten years.  Nicole has worked at chartered accounting firms in Melbourne, London and Geelong and joined PrincipleFocus in August 2007.

Nicole lives in Geelong with her husband Craig and two children, Rebecca and Amelia.  One of her interests outside of work is travel.

Terry Powell

Terry was raised on a wheat and sheep farm in Victoria’s Mallee region in North West Victoria. His brother Chris now manages the family farm which is about 7000 acres in size.

Following the receipt of an Accounting degree, he embarked on a career in Financial Planning resulting in over 20 years experience in the industry. His first role was with ANZ Funds Management in Geelong. He ultimately became an Executive Financial Planner with ANZ Private Bank in Melbourne where he provided advice to some of Australia’s wealthiest families. Clients were also business leaders including CEOs of some of the country’s largest listed companies.

This experience whetted Terry’s appetite to set up his own Business. He has successfully built and sold two Businesses from scratch. The second Business, Alliance Wealth Management, was a leader in the industry being one of the first organisations in Australia to offer fee for service and direct investments via individually managed accounts. Through Alliance Wealth Management, Terry worked with Business owners and Business leaders who had total assets anywhere between $1m and $50m and specialised in providing strategic advice around wealth creation, asset protection and estate planning.

Over the past two years Terry has headed up Westpac’s BT Financial Group as the Victorian Manager of Business Advice. His team of 30 Planners provided financial planning advice to the Commercial Bank’s high net worth customer base.

Terry is a CFP and holds a B.Bus (Acc) and a Dip.FP.  He is also one of the few people accredited in Australia to facilitate the TriMetrix Development System recognised as one of the world’s leading Emotional Intelligence tools.

Bronwyn Walker

Bronwyn worked in a public practice accounting firm for 9 years prior to joining PrincipleFocus in July 2006.

Bronwyn completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accounting and Finance before undertaking and completing the Chartered Accountants qualification through the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.

Coming from a family farm, Bronwyn has seen first hand many of the issues that our clients encounter and would like nothing more than to see our clients run successful farms and/or businesses.  She shares the desire of most clients to gain efficient and effective inforation from their record keeping data to assist in managerial decision making.

As part of the dynamic accounting team, Bronwyn enjoys the vibrancy of PrincipleFocus and the challenges of finding solutions for clients in all financial situations on a daily basis.

Bonwyn's interests outside work are sports and being mum to her little boy.

Jane Appleby

Jane is a consultant based in Launceston and is responsible for co-ordinating benchmarking results nationally.  She has completed an Advanced Diploma in Farm Business Management at Marcus Oldham College, and is currently completing a Bachelor of Business Management (Agriculture) by correspondence with the same college.  Prior to commencing college Jane spent four years working as an Executive Assistant with a Financial Planning firm.  Jane grew up on a beef cattle property in the North West of Tasmania where she spent fourteen years showing her family’s beef cattle and assisting to manage the stud herd.

Jeannette Bruder

Profile to come.

Chris Scheid - Director

Chris is a Director and Manager for the SA branch of PrincipleFocus.   Chris has a Bachelor of Agricultural Science from Sydney University.  He worked for 10 years with SA Primary Industries - 5 years as Livestock Officer at Kadina and 5 years as Property Management Planning Officer based in Naracoorte (South East SA). 

Susan Taylor

Profile to come.